Britain’s 16 Air Assault Brigade takes aim at hearts and minds - but the guns are muted

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Britain’s most senior officer in Afghanistan has the men and the firepower to wage war like no other commander in the British Army.

But, with nearly 8,000 troops under his command and a new array of spy-in-the sky surveillance equipment at his disposal, Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith admits that his main job is not to go after Taleban insurgents but to use his soldiers to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people.

In his first interview since arriving in Helmand, southern Afghanistan, Brigadier Carleton-Smith, the commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, told The Times that the mission for his